Triangle Radio Reading Service

Triangle Radio Reading Service


I recently signed up as a volunteer reader at the Triangle Radio Reading Service because – let’s face it – I simply have too much free time. Tonight was the night I was supposed to observe two veteran readers in the studio but instead of just observing they put me into the mix. I wasn’t expecting to get to read tonight but I did and boy, was it fun!

The Triangle Radio Reading Service is a radio service for the vision-impaired. It’s home market is the Triangle but neighboring counties also rebroadcast its programs. The audio is also available via satellite on AMC1. Many thousands of vision-impaired listeners depend on TRRS for their news and information.
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Joe Strummer

Joe Strummer


I finished watching the documentary Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten last night. The film interviews former bandmates, fans, and friends of Joe Strummer, the iconic musician who rode to fame in the legendary band The Clash. It was a fascinating look at Strummer: a guy who lived a most colorful life.

Director Julien Temple interviews Strummer’s friends as they sit around campfires, which is a great way to relax people and get them comfortable talking. Campfires were also a feature of the camps Strummer loved. His wife, Lucinda, created a music camp in Strummer’s honor called Strummerville.
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New chip debit cards

I was perplexed to get a new debit card in the mail from State Employees Credit Union (co-ops rock) the other day. My first thought was that my account must have somehow been compromised but then I saw that the numbers on the new card were the same as the old card.

Hmm. Then I looked at the paper insert that came with the card, which explained the whole deal. There’s nothing wrong with my old card, necessarily, but SECU is rolling out debit cards embedded with chips (or EMV) proactively. The plan is an expensive one to SECU but the savings from fraud prevention will help offset it. SECU becomes the second largest financial institution in the country to move their cards to the chip technology.

I’ve been a happy SECU member since 1992 and I’m happy to see that my credit union continues to lead the way.

Taking Raleigh back?

Raleigh mayoral candidate Billie Redmond says “it’s time to take Raleigh back.” The question I have is “back to what?”

It seems to me that Raleigh is doing just fine, thank you very much. Raleigh has topped so many best-of lists in the past few years that I’ve lost count:

  • #1 Among Best Places for Business and Careers – Forbes, 2011
  • #2 Next Big Boom Town – Forbes, 2011
  • #3 America’s Cleanest Cities – Forbes, 2011
  • #1 Best Situated for Economic Recovery – Newsweek, 2011
  • #1 Great Cities for Raising Families – Kiplingers, 2010
  • #3 Best Places for Business and Careers – Forbes, 2010
  • #2 Cheapest Midsized Market to Do Business – KPMG LLC, 2010
  • #1 Top Business Climate in North Carolina – Site Selection, 2010
  • #2 Best City to Live, Work and Play – Kiplinger’s, 2008
  • #1 Best Place to Live in the U.S. – msnbc.com, 2008
  • #1 Best Place for Young Adults – Bizjournals, 2008
  • …and many, many more.

Does this sound like a city in distress to you?

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A little bird told me

It’s been said that the newsroom at the News and Observer has been so quiet lately that one can hear a bird chirp. That’s no surprise to anyone who works there because the latest addition to the newsroom is a bird.

Sources say a bird somehow found its way into the N&O’s cavernous press room and has spent the past few weeks flying around in a panic. The desperate bird has apparently rebuffed all efforts of N&O staffers to rescue it.

N&O staffers might be better off convincing the bird that calling a large, air-conditioned room home might not be so bad now that our outdoor temperatures are routinely topping 100 degrees!

Norway terrorism

By Johannes Grødem, Wikimedia Commons


I was working away yesterday when I got news that an explosion had rocked government buildings in Oslo, Norway. Later evidence pointed to it being a bomb, that a far-right Norwegian may be responsible, and that the same Norwegian is accused of a mass shooting at a summer camp soon afterward.

The first thing I noticed is that a mere 10 minutes after the bombing, I was seeing photos sent through Twitter from eyewitnesses on the scene. Putting the loss of the tragedy aside for a moment, it’s an amazing world we live in now where most everyone carries a camera and anyone can break news. It’s become my habit to turn to Twitter, Twitpic, and other direct-from-eyewitness sources whenever a big story is breaking. Nearly every one of these breaking news photos on Twitpic has comments from a media company or wire service, asking permission to run the photo. It’s obvious I’m not the only one who goes straight to these sources.
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Peace College to Become William Peace University

More of the public domain pictures I took of Raleigh landmarks for Wikipedia are turning up in the wild. Today, my photograph of Peace College was used to illustrate a story in Raleigh Downtowner magazine.

Raleigh — The Peace College Board of Trustees announced today that Peace College plans to become William Peace University.

“Becoming William Peace University reflects our growth as an institution and will deepen and broaden our ability to help our students succeed,” said Beth Cherry, Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees and a Peace alumna. “This will be such a wonderful opportunity for our students.”

via Peace College to Become William Peace University.

Google Maps car

Google Maps car


I just spotted the Google Maps camera car driving through our neighborhood. Fortunately I had my camera ready and snapped a dozen photos of it as I stood in my driveway.

I can’t wait to see the new Google Maps imagery with this crazy old bald guy standing behind a bush with a camera!

Update 7 July 2012: Got it!

Compelling photograph

N&O photograph by Takaai Iwabu

I was sad to read in yesterday’s News and Observer about a fire at the Gorman Crossing apartment complex in Raleigh. Accompanying the story was a compelling photograph of one of the affected residents, Connie Starkey, being comforted by her father, Fred Starkey.

Connie’s grief screams out of the photo. Her face told me all I needed to know about what happened there – and how I should feel about it. Everyone who sees this photograph knows what this woman was feeling at that very instant. It’s a powerful image.

N&O photographer Takaaki Iwabu captured a masterful photograph. I believe it’s the best photograph I’ve seen in the News and Observer in months, if not years. It’s outstanding photojournalism.

As for Connie, I hope she’s able to recover from this tragedy.

Update 22 July: While Connie lost all of her possessions in the fire, at least her dog and one of her two cats survived. Hooray! See the NCSU Technician’s excellent photos of the efforts to save Starkey’s cat, Sissy.

Update 2: WTVD’s Anthony Wilson spoke with Connie a day after the fire.

CERT training

Tonight was my first night of CERT training. CERT stands for Community Emergency Response Team and it’s a free program designed to get people trained to help their neighborhood in the event of an emergency.

Tonight’s topics were disaster preparedness and CERT organization. The next class will go over fire safety and disaster psychology. There will be other fun things to do as well.

Being in tonight’s class convinced me that I already know a lot of this stuff, having helped out in disaster events before. I know I still have more to learn, though, and I’m looking forward to improving my knowledge.

Tonight’s class also reminded me that I still have to blog about the lessons I learned from the April 16th tornado. There are plenty of ways the response could’ve been improved and I made notes of this immediately afterward but never shared them. That’s a blog post for another night, though, folks!